Brook Soso
Brook Soso is an inmate at Litchfield Penitentiary, portrayed by Kimiko Glenn. She is first seen in "Hugs Can Be Deceiving" as a brand new inmate, being shown around and introduced by Lorna Morello on her intake day. Personality Soso is principled, passionate, and kind, but she is very talkative, which irritates many of the inmates. She is pansexual, and she stated that she is attracted to people, not genders. Generally, her principled protests are undermined by fellow inmates who don't want to make waves and risk trouble. Later, Soso becomes disgusted at the prison conditions and protests by staging a hunger strike, which none of the other inmates take seriously at first. Sister Ingalls, Taylor and Jones eventually join her in the protest. They write up a list of demands for Piper's prison newsletter, but the protest eventually fizzles out under pressure from the warden's office. Physical Appearance Soso is half-Japanese, half-Scottish, but she is taken in by the white women as soon as she arrives at Litchfield. Her Asian features make her the target of fetishization at the hands of Big Boo, as well as being assumed to be submissive and compliant by Boo and Piper. She is seen with brown eyes and long black hair, eventually cut short after an incident with Leanne. After she arrives she refuses to shower, citing that people should live with their natural odors, and does nothing even after Pennsatucky bluntly tells her that she smells. When one of the prison officers, Wanda Bell, tries to haul her into a shower room, she drops to the floor as a display of "passive resistance." However, Bell is victorious in their standoff and forces her to take a shower, which she does while crying. Biography Before Litchfield For a list of episodes featuring Soso's flashbacks, see here. Soso is of Scottish and Japanese heritage. She grew up in a strict household with a mother that pressured her to be the best at everything, including piano ("Trust No Bitch"). In "Don't Say Anything", flashbacks show a 19-year-old Soso as a door-to-door protester, preparing to campaign against a Walmart being built and instead building a case to convince the city council to build a park space there. Her bitter ex-boyfriend, Ethan, is also part of the protest and dares Soso to knock on a registered sex offender's door. Soso agrees to the dare on the condition that Ethan's friend that she has a crush on, Oren, agrees to take her on a date, plus Ethan gives her $50. Soso visits the sex offender, Joshua Nicholson, and finds out he was arrested for public sex on a deserted beach, not pedophilia. She is shocked and sympathetic to the man's story. However, she later lies to her ex and says Nicholson is a rapist who tried to seduce her, in order to impress both Ethan and Oren. She is shown to manipulate the truth or outright lie to get what she wants. According to Sister Ingalls, she is a "dirty hippie who has no idea what peaceful protest really means." Progressive but naive Soso claims her parents named her after "Brooke Shields, except without the e", but said her parents later told her she was named after a "babbling brook", presumable due to her inability to stop talking. Soso volunteered at an organic farm in Xenia, Ohio, with her best friend Meadow. She was arrested for protesting logging by living in a tree so it couldn't be cut down. ("Hugs Can Be Deceiving"). Season Two On Soso's first day at Litchfield, she becomes acquainted with Piper, who she believes is very much like Meadow ("Hugs Can Be Deceiving"). After Piper tries to trick her into becoming Big Boo's prison wife so she can regain a lost blanket that Boo doesn't want to give back, Soso gets very offended, calls Piper "sick", and runs off crying. Nicky finds her and offers a listening ear, which results in the two having sex in the chapel; it's revealed that it's not her first time having sex with a woman. Season Three Soso becomes very depressed because she wasn't making friends with the other inmates due to her constant talking, why she's regularly frequenting Berdie Rogers who's listening to her problems. Her counselor Healy instead has her go to the medical facility so she could take anti-depressants. She ends up using diphenhydramine (Benadryl) to attempt suicide through overdose, but Poussey discovers her passed out in the library. Poussey, Taystee, and Suzanne save her by making her throw up the pills in the bathroom. The group then helps her get back on her feet and continuously wakes her up to avoid a trip to the psych ward. Soso then becomes friends with their crew, and she is seen holding hands with Poussey, implying a budding relationship ("Trust No Bitch"). Season Four A romantic relationship between Poussey and Soso develops. The two fall in love over their mutual love of literature, grow extremely close, and engage in oral sex several times. After CO Bayley improperly restrains Poussey and causing her to accidentally suffocate, Soso is devastated. Norma comforts a crying Soso by rocking her and singing, and Soso is later seen getting drunk off of the buried hooch that Poussey was making. Season Five Soso is discovered to be hiding out in the library during the riot by Judy King. She then agrees to leave so as to discover why Maria Ruiz has called a meeting in the chapel. She can be seen watching on as Ruiz reveals the hostages, and leaves in disgust as they start to abuse them. She then joins Suzanne and Maureen Kukudio in holding a seance for Poussey in the spot where she died. Upon returning to the library, she weeps as it has been left in disarray. When Taystee and Piper try to find people to use their talents to honor Poussey, Soso decides to create an elaborate book sanctuary down the hallway. She continues to mourn the death of her girlfriend during the rest of the season. During the raid, she sits idly and passively resist the officers, soon being carried out to the front lawn with the other inmates. Relationships Romantic * Nicky Nichols (one-night-stand) - In Season Two, Nicky and Big Boo have a competition to see who can have the most sex with other inmates; Boo sets her eyes on Soso but Nicky ends up having sex with her in the chapel. In Season Three, Nicky goes to hide her stolen heroin in the laundry light-fixture. Brook is working there and asks whether her and Nicky can at least be civil even if they're never going to be girlfriend-girlfriend, but Nicky, panicked that Soso nearly spotted the heroin, coldly asks how that was ever supposed to work as Soso never stops talking. An insulted Soso remarks that now she knows that using people and throwing them away is Nicky's "thing" ("Empathy Is a Boner Killer"). * Poussey Washington (girlfriend; deceased) - Initially civil, the two were on rocky ground after Brook offended Norma's group. But Poussey later found Brook unconscious in the library after she took an overdose of Benadryl. Poussey was desperate to help Brook, even to the extent to induce vomiting with her own fingers . When the inmates escape Litchfield, Brook is seen floating alone in the river. Poussey swims up to her and holds her hand ("Trust No Bitch"). After this, the two become a couple, even planning for a future together outside of the prison, until Poussey's death in Season Four. (For more information see Poussey and Soso) * Ethan (ex-boyfriend) Friends * Taystee (friend) - Brook and Taystee become friends when Poussey finds her unconscious in the library. Taystee points out she isn't dead. After Brook and Poussey start a relationship, Taystee becomes welcoming, although their relationship is strained after Poussey's death in season four, because Brook and Taystee have vastly different ways of grieving. When Brook makes a memorial for Poussey, they bury the hatchet and hug. * Black Cindy (friend) - Brook and Black Cindy become friends after Poussey and Brook's relationship comes to light. * Suzanne Warren (friend) - Suzanne and Brook become friends when Poussey points out Brook is unconscious in the library. Suzanne is eager to see a 'dead body'. Brook and Suzanne become friends when Poussey and Soso's relationship comes to light. * Yoga Jones (protest partner) - When Brook goes on a hunger strike, Yoga Jones supports Brook and stops eating as well. * Sister Ingalls (protest partner) - When Brook goes on a hunger strike, Sister Ingalls supports Brook and stops eating as well, however, after Brook and Yoga Jones start eating again, Sister Ingalls remains persistent in the strike, which causes her hospitalization. * Janae Watson (friend) - Janae starts off as not wanting a 'non-black girl' sitting at the Black Girl table. Soon, Janae becomes accepted of it. In season five, Janae helps Brook deal with her grief for Poussey by becoming her workout coach. * Alison Abdullah (friend) - When Alison joins the Black Girl's group, she becomes friends with Brook. * Norma Romano (friend) - When Poussey died, Norma found Brook crying and comforted her by singing You Are The Light ''by ''Lone Justice. * Berdie Rogers * Judy King * Piper Chapman Enemies * Leanne Taylor (rival in the Norma-worshippers) - Brook offers her ideas to the worshippers, but Leanne shoots them down and starts to bully Brook. Eventually cutting her hair off when she was sleeping. * Sam Healy * Baxter Bayley Trivia * Soso is a vegetarian. * She is bisexual since she's "attracted to people, not genders", as confirmed in "Power Suit". * She doesn't like Bubbletea or Hello Kitty as mentioned in "We'll Always Have Baltimore". * Soso is left handed, seen when she is taking the job test in "Fake It Till You Fake It Some More". * She is one of the several characters who appeared in all episodes of season they weren't credited as a regular. Memorable Quotes Gallery brook1.jpg soso1.gif soso2.gif soso_friends.gif poussoso2.gif Pousoso.gif Navigation Category:Litchfield Inmates Category:Laundress Category:Season 2 Characters Category:Season 3 Characters Category:Season 4 Characters Category:Season 5 Characters